Today we set out for Crystal Bay and we probably wished we hadn’t. The course was in rough condition, it was a 5-hour round and there were no marshals on the course to keep things moving. That is all pretty inexcusable as this time of year and the course should be in excellent shape. I would give this place a miss for a while.

Joe Lloyd won the day and had no problem handling the conditions with an impressive 39 points while Geoff Bracegirdle took the near pin.

Thursday, Jan. 4, Laem Chabang (white tees) – Stableford

T1st Walter Baechli (18) 33pts

T1st Terry Dyer (17) 33pts

3rd Gerard Dodge (18) 31pts

We decided to try night golf with a 3:30 tee time at Laem Chabang. It is the best value way to play here in the high season and you will save 1,200 baht but it does come with certain challenges.

The course was in beautiful condition no doubt. This Jack Nicklaus track is one of Pattaya’s best and many Asian Tour events have been held here over the years.

We had a tie for first today as Terry Dyer found another podium spot this week, joining Walter Baechli at the 33 mark. Gerard Dodge took the Caddy Smile project near pin prize… but could only manage a par.

We finished 12 holes in daylight but the last few proved difficult under the lights. Night golf is something to get used to and many found the shadows hard to negotiate. Still, no complaints and it’s something to try at least once to judge for yourself.

Friday, Jan. 5, Pattavia (white tees) – Stableford

1st Jason Kerr (2) 36pts

2nd David Wang (16) 34pts

3rd Ken Aihara (7) 33pts

The morning shift ladies were busy busy busy as we had both Pattaya Matchplay guys and the TGC event filling up the place. They did do a great job though, and all were fed well and filled up with enough caffeine for their performance on the first tee. We had 10 groups out today which is a lot even for the high season.

Fairways were looking hard so the longer white tees were chosen for the comp today and the traditionally fast greens provided the usual difficult task.

Kenny Aihara was back on the podium with 33 on the card and David Wang did one better for second. Jason Kerr is taking his holidays from university in the U.S. and returned to the clubhouse with a big red 36 circled on the card for the win.